White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies are the best! They’ve got soft and chewy centers, crisp edges, and the perfect flavor! I’m sharing all of my secrets to get the very best cookies, including a few “secret ingredients” that take them to the next level!

Other favorite cookies to try are these Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, these Snickerdoodle Cookies, or these Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies.

My husband’s all-time favorite cookies are White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies. And even though I’m a huge milk chocolate fan, I have to admit, these cookies are pretty darn good. They’re soft, chewy, and perfectly sweet with a tropical-inspired flavor twist. A few “secret” ingredients give these cookies the perfect unique flavor that everyone goes nuts for (<See what I did there? haha) after just one bite!

Ok, bad puns aside, let’s get talking about these cookies. Particularly, how easy they are to make! These cookies only require one bowl and a wooden spoon. No hand mixers or stand mixers needed for these cookies.

How to make White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

• Melt the butter: Melted butter yields deliciously soft and chewy cookies. The one important note here: Let the melted butter COOL. If you add the sugars too quickly to the melted butter it is going to melt the sugars and give you greasy cookies. It seems counterproductive, but melt, cool, and then add.
• Add sugars, egg, and flavor enhancers: Once the butter is back to room temperature it’s safe to add in the brown sugar and white sugar. Mix until smooth and then add in an egg and vanilla extract.
• Along with the egg come my three “secret” ingredients: agave nectar, almond extract, and coconut extract. Weird cookie ingredients? Maybe. But once you try these, I don’t think you’ll ever turn back!
  • The agave nectar gives a flavor complexity, subtle softness, and a different touch of sweetness to these cookies. 
  • The almond and coconut extracts give these cookies a touch of tropical flavor that pairs perfectly with the white chocolate and macadamia nuts.
  • All of these ingredients are generally found in the baking aisle of your grocery store.

How to Make White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies, cont’d

• Add the dry ingredients. Before adding flour, you’ll stir in the baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cornstarch (for softness). Once those ingredients are mixed in, you’ll add it all in and mix until just combined. Avoid over-mixing the flour as that will yield tough cookies.
• Stir in chips and nuts. Good-quality white chocolate chips (I recommend Guittard®, Ghirardelli®, or Nestle®) and coarsely chopped macadamia nuts. I recommend using a bag of toasted macadamia nuts for a better flavor. (Or toast your own!)
• Chill the dough. Since we melted the butter, the dough needs time to chill, so the butter can re-solidify. The chilling time also gives a chance for the flavors and textures to meld together and intensify. Once the dough has been chilled, it’s time to bake!
• Bake. See the picture below for how I roll the dough balls (which will assure a crisp edge and soft, chewy center). Bake in a fully preheated oven for 8-12 minutes, erring on the side of slightly underbaking for gourmet-tasting White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies!

Cookie Baking Tips

• Be precise when measuring the ingredients. The most important measurement is the flour. If you press a measuring cup into a bag of flour you are probably packing in way too much flour, which will affect the texture of the cookies (too much flour = cakey and less-flavorful cookies). Make sure you spoon the flour into a measuring cup and level the top with the back of a table knife.
• Chill the dough. When you chill the dough, the butter solidifies, which allows it to melt slower when it’s baked. This creates a thicker cookie and prevents the cookie from becoming flat and crispy. Chilling the dough also gives the sugar time to absorb more of the liquid and become more concentrated. Concentrated sugar will give you a chewier and sweeter cookie. 
• Use the right temperature of ingredients. At room temperature, eggs and butter form an emulsion that traps air. While baking in the oven, that trapped air expands and produces a fluffy baked good. If possible, use room temperature eggs for this recipe. Soaking refrigerated eggs in a bowl of warm (not hot) water for about 5-10 minutes is a quick way to get eggs to room temperature.

Cookie Storing Tips

• We like these cookies best on days 1 and 2 of being made. They do last up to a week, but they begin to lose texture and flavor.
• To store: Place in an airtight container and keep at room temperature. Wait until cookies are completely cooled before adding to the container.

Instead of freezing baked cookies, try freezing the dough! Drop the cookie dough balls on a large sheet pan and freeze. Once solid, transfer the frozen cookie dough balls into an airtight container/bag and freeze for up to 3 months.

To bake: You can bake them straight from the freezer; just add 1-3 minutes to the cooking time. Alternatively, thaw the dough in the fridge and bake according to directions.

QUICK TIP

Freezing the cookie dough lets you have the ultimate convenience treat! These White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies are every bit as tasty as the frozen dough you can get at gourmet shops. Keep a batch of cookies in the freezer, ready to pull out and bake at a moment’s notice!

More amazing cookie recipes

• Oatmeal Creme Pie
• Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
• Thumbprint Cookies
• Edible Cookie Dough
• Meringue Cookies

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White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

5 from 8 votes

- Review this recipe

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies with soft and chewy centers and crisp edges.

SAVE TO RECIPE BOX

Print Recipe

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

5 from 8 votes

- Review this recipe

SAVE TO RECIPE BOX

Print Recipe

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies with soft and chewy centers and crisp edges.

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword white chocolate macadamia nut cookies

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Servings 18 cookies

Calories 213kcal

Author Chelsea

Cost $4.12

Ingredients

• ▢ 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ▢ 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
• ▢ 1/2 cup white sugar
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon coconut extract optional (but adds a delicious tropical flavor!)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons agave nectar
• ▢ 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• ▢ 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt (if using table salt or sensitive to salt, reduce to scant 1/2 teaspoon)
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ 1 and 3/4 cups all-purpose white flour spooned and leveled
• ▢ 3/4 cup white chocolate chips
• ▢ 1/2 cup roasted unsalted macadamia nuts coarsely chopped

US - Metric

USMetric

Instructions

• Melt the butter in a very large, microwave-safe bowl. Once melted, refrigerate for 5 minutes. It's important the butter isn't hot when you add in the sugars or it will melt the sugar and make the cookies greasy.
• Once butter is cooled to room temperature, stir in the light brown sugar and white sugar. Stir until smooth. Stir in the egg, vanilla extract, coconut extract, and agave nectar. Mix until smooth.
• Add in the cornstarch, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Again, stir until smooth. Add in the *correctly measured flour and mix until JUST combined. Don't overmix. 
• Gently stir in the white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts until combined.
• Cover the bowl tightly and chill for 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or use a nonstick liner.
• Roll balls of dough into tall cylindrical balls (see picture above for shape and size). Place 6-8 cookie balls on the pan to give the cookies plenty of room to spread. Dough balls should be about 2 tbsp each (40g each)
• Bake for 8-12 minutes, erring on the side of under-baking to keep them soft and chewy. (We like ours right at 9-10 minutes.) Remember, the cookies will bake a little more out of the oven, so take them out as soon as the edges start to lightly brown; the middles will firm up as they cool.
• Remove from the oven and immediately press the edges inwards with a metal spatula or back of a spoon. If desired, press a few additional chocolate chips or macadamia nuts in the top (makes them look pretty). Allow to cool on the baking tray for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Recipe Notes

Cook time refers to chilling time.  

*When measuring the flour, do not press the measuring cup into the bag of flour as that packs in too much flour. Spoon the flour into the cup and then level. The flour should completely fill up the measuring cup without being packed in. Measuring the flour correctly will give you the most success with this recipe! If the cookies are spreading too much, you probably didn't add enough flour; if the cookies are cakey and too thick, you have too much flour.

Nutrition Facts

Calories: 213kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 25mg | Sodium: 153mg | Potassium: 60mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 170IU | Calcium: 35mg | Iron: 1mg

We do our best to provide accurate nutritional analysis for our recipes. Our nutritional data is calculated using a third-party algorithm and may vary, based on individual cooking styles, measurements, and ingredient sizes. Please use this information for comparison purposes and consult a health professional for nutrition guidance as needed.

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